Off
by Lucillia
Summary: While Harry never knew quite what, there had always been something a little off about him.


_Petunia Dursley called that awful boy. She couldn't think of anything else to do. Lily's child had been with her for less than two days and he was..._

Harry didn't know why his friend Hermione thought he was that badly abused. Sure, he'd been abused to a degree, he'd lived in a cupboard for as long as he could remember and had to do a bunch of difficult chores and often had to go without the occasional meal after all, but it wasn't nearly as bad as Hermione was describing to Ron.

He had always been very small for his age. It wasn't from being starved half to death like Hermione claimed though, because Aunt Petunia always made sure he had something to eat during his "no meals" punishments. It never tasted very good since he was being punished, but he always got at least a little food.

If he was really in that bad a shape, Madam Pomphrey would have already said or done something during his visits to the hospital wing.

_Vernon had wanted to be rid of that unnatural creature since the day it had arrived. The fact that it was Petunia's flesh and blood had been the only thing that had stayed his hand..._

Ron had looked at him strangely when he'd said he couldn't really remember anything from before he was six or so. Sure, there were fuzzy images here and there and there were the memories of the night his mother died that had showed up when the Dementors approached, but his first clear memory was from when he was six.

His first clear memory was of the day Aunt Petunia had taken him to school. The lady in the registration office had looked at him oddly the entire time they were there.

In the beginning, he absolutely hated school. He'd been smaller than everyone there, and it had taken him longer to learn everything than it did everyone else. The teachers all seemed to think he was very sick for some strange reason, and that he would collapse in class or something for the first year or so. Eventually, he caught up to everyone else and came to like school a little bit. At least it got him away from Uncle Vernon.

_Severus Snape's lip curled in disgust as Potter passed him. Not only was the boy James Potter's spawn, but he was also a daily reminder of one of his worst mistakes. Seeing Lily's eyes always made it worse..._

Harry had treasured the looks on the Weasley twins' faces when he'd managed to prank them during his Fourth year. The totally gobsmacked expressions on their faces when they learned that the ickle Hufflepuff firstie that'd got one over on them had actually been him had been absolutely priceless.

He'd adopted the persona of the random firstie to get away from the stares and comments made by the other students thanks to his unexpected entry into the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Enough people had said that he was small enough to be one after all. All he'd really needed to do was change his hair and eye color with some color changing charms and cover his scar with some concealer he'd nicked from Aunt Petunia over the summer. Being able to prank the Weasley twins had just been icing on the cake.

_Remus had wanted to get closer to Harry, but found that he couldn't bring himself to do so. Harry was James' son, and he had certain responsibilities towards the boy, but he was just so afraid..._

Harry didn't know why he always celebrated his birthday at midnight, it had just felt right somehow. Ever since he could remember, he had awoke at or around midnight on his birthday. His friends had found that odd, but went along with it anyways commenting on how he couldn't wait for his birthday to start. His seventeenth birthday was no exception.

He found himself wide awake, and when midnight rolled around he briefly considered poking Ron awake so he wouldn't be alone. As he shifted over, he heard the door to the room creak open and watched as an old man poked his head in. He wondered if he should be worried or not. He hadn't heard anything to indicate that there was an attack, but he didn't recognize the stranger who was studying him intently.

Soon he heard footsteps coming down the hall. He tensed up and prepared for an attack.

"Dad, you're here early. The Wedding's not for another day and a half." Arthur Weasly said as he appeared in the doorway next to the intruder.

"I heard that Harry Potter was here, and decided to take a look." the old man said.

"He's a good kid." Mr. Weasley said.

"Really? Why don't you tell me all about him?" the old man asked, pushing Mr. Weasley towards the stairs.

Before leaving, the old man turned and gave him a look that was both relieved, and something else that he couldn't identify.

_Petunia couldn't understand why these witches scorned her. She had done her duty to Lily. Lily's son was alive after all. Lily's freakish unnatural son who she both loved and feared was alive..._

Harry threw himself into his training to banish the dark thoughts. Ever since the War had ended and Voldemort had died for the last time, he'd been feeling purposeless. No, not exactly purposeless, but that he had done everything he'd been put on the earth to do and that it was time he should leave. The Veil in the Department of Mysteries through which Sirius had fallen called to him constantly for some strange reason.

He did his best to ignore the call, but it seemed to grow stronger every passing day. He'd mentioned it to Hermione hoping she'd find a way to stop it, but it didn't work. Hermione had obviously found something considering the fact that she had cast several diagnostic charms on him at one point, but she would never tell him what it was. She just gave him a sad, sick look before she clammed up, silently crying and refusing to say another word on the subject every time he asked.

Gritting his teeth, he snarled as he sent an over powered Reducto at the target. That damn Veil was calling, as was that stupid wand, and that accursed stone. The only way he ever got to sleep at night was by sleeping under his father's invisibility cloak.

_Severus Snape sighed as he looked up at the stars. Crickets chirped, and a warm breeze drifted through the graveyard. Tonight was not the sort of night for dark deeds such as these, but this was the only night of the year that this could be done. This was the last year that this could be done without it being too obvious either. They had only one chance at this, and it had to go perfectly._

_He did his best to ignore the woman's screams as he began to prepare the final ingredients for the potion that had taken precisely a year to make. He winced as he sacrificed something he had kept as a treasured possession for nearly a decade, but it was necessary. The woman shrieked loudly as he held the next to last ingredient over the cauldron, and his hand slipped, causing him to add a little too much. _

_"Damn." he said._

_The potion wouldn't be ruined, but...he didn't have time to make another. Tonight was their only shot._

_All too soon, the final ingredients were in, the potion was done, and all that was left to wait and hope that all of his efforts hadn't been for naught. Eventually, the woman's screams had subsided and were replaced by a different sound. He looked at his watch. Good, they still had time._

_Selene handed him the baby, and returned to Petunia's side to tend to her. While she had set the rune circle, she was much too pure to complete the ritual, and he wouldn't let his friend tarnish her soul with this either. Necromancy was the darkest of the Dark Arts, and it always left a taint behind no matter how pure the intentions of the practitioner._

_While it was impossible to raise the body of the dead as anything other than an Inferi, there was a way to bring back the soul if one had the right ingredients on hand. Tonight, he had the right ingredients. He and Petunia had to sacrifice a great deal to get the most important of these ingredients. After this night, neither he nor Petunia would ever be able to have a child even if it were the most desperate desire of their hearts. While he didn't mind so much since he wouldn't ever love a woman the way he had Lily, Petuina had wanted to have a daughter someday._

_He charmed a dose of the potion directly into the tiny stomach of the newborn infant. He then quickly dipped the child in the rest of the potion twice to make sure it covered every inch of its skin._

_He nodded to the other points of the star as he set the baby into the center of the circle. There was no going back now. He took the head point, Charlus Potter who was fast approaching the end of his life stood to his left, Nicholas Flamel stood next to him, then came Septimus Weasley, and finally his own aged grandfather Elphias Prince stood at the last point. Each of them had their own reasons for committing this crime against nature, and each knew the potential consequences._

_Finally the clock struck midnight on the 31st of July 1983 and the ritual began. An hour later, the ritual was over and all there was to do was to wait._

_A pair of liquid black eyes opened and promptly turned a killing curse green as a jagged cut like a bolt of lightening traced its way down a tiny forehead. They had been successful. He removed the child from the circle before cleaning it off and wrapping it warmly._

_"Welcome back to the world Harry Potter." he said as he handed the baby to its grandfather Charlus._


End file.
